Drinking-cup.



F. P. SHEPARD.

DRINKING CUP,

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 7. 1912.

Patented Jan. 30,1917.

FRANK 1P. SHEPARD, OF OKLAHOMA. OKLAHOMA.

DRINKING-CUP.

Application filed October 7, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FR NK P. SHErARo, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Oklahoma city, in the county of ()klahoma and State ofOklahoma, have invented a new and useful Drinking-Cup, of.

use, the strongest and most suitable portion of its upper edge fromwhich to drink is at a corner or angle formed by two walls, and even atthis point the weakness of the valls often renders it diflicult'to forceor ecure a proper fit of the lips against the cup. Again, in tilting thecup for drinking, it must be carefully grasped and held by the hand,else the shifting of the weight of the contents and the rapid softeningaction of the material from which cups of this class are usually madewill allow it to collapse in an unexpected direction and spill.

An object, therefore, of the invention is To provide a cup which may bemore easily grasped by the lips in drinking.

Another object is to provide a cup from which one may drink the fullcontents with not the necessity of tilting the cup or his head out ofnormal position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in theensuing de- .gcription.

A cup embodying the principles of the invention is shown by theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevationof the cupin its folded or collapsed condition. Fig. is a similar view showing thecup spread upon for use, the lower portion of a side wall being brokenaway to expose inner parts to view. Fig. 3 is a greatly enlarged planview of the cup in the folded or col- 'apsed condition shown in Fig. 1.Fig. l s a plan view, on the same scale as Fig. 3, showing the cup inthe spread or open condition shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a frogmentalplan view of the upper or delivery Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 3ft, tuft.

Serial No. 724,332.

end of an outlet tube shown in the righthand portion of Fig. 4, althoughon still larger scale than said Fig. 4, and showing said tube pressedinto a little diiferent shape. Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 5, butshowing an optional construction of the tube. Fig. 7, is a fragmentalview in the same direction and on the same scale as Figs. 1 and 2,showing a person drinking from the cup.

Referring to. the several figures, in all of which like characters ofreference designate like parts, the cup shown in this instance comprisestwo walls 10 and 11 of flexible sheet material, such, for example, asthick paper, papier-mach, celluloid, or other material stiff enough toretain its form whilebeing held by the hand as a container for water.lhese walls 10 and 11 have each a short base edge 12, and side edges 13and 14.- extending upward from the ends of said base edge asradii from acommon center below the cup, the said edges of the one wall being joinedintegrally or in any other suitable manner to the corresponding edges ofthe other wall, so that said walls may be spread or opened apart attheir upper edges 15 into the complete receptacle shown in Fig. 4:. Thecup thus described is not materially plifierent from those commonly usedat this time.

In carrying out the objects of the invention, an outlet tube 16 leadsfrom the lower part of the interior of the cup upward to a point whereit may be grasped by the-lips for drawing the water out by suction, thistube being collapsible into flat form and being adapted to open andcollapse at thu'same time that the walls 10 and 11 do.

ln cross-section, the tube 16 may be of any form best adapted to beattached to and supported by the walls of the cup and have its openingand collapsing .movements produced and controlled by said walls, and inthis instance the tube has four sides-17, l8, l9, and 20, this being theleast number of straight sides which may be joined together into apolygon and be made to collapse.

In arranging the tube 16, the edge portions of the two cup walls 10 and11 may form its outermost twosides l7 and 18, respectively, as bestillustrated in Figs. 4 and 55, the innermost sides l9 and20 of the tubebeing joined tosaid walls lll and' ll, respectively, in anysuitablemanner," or, if deemed preferable for any purpose, such as forconvenience of manufacture, the sides 18, 19, 20, and 17 of said tubemay be integral extensions, in the order named, of cthe edgeof the wall10, as shown in Fig. 6, the last-named side 17 being cemented flatlyagainst the inner surface of said wall 10, while the surface at the edgeof the other wall 11 is cemented flatly against the first-named side 18of said tube. In thus forming or placing the tube 16 in the interiorangle formed by the walls 10 and 11, its opening and collapsingmovements will be in concert with, and controlled by, said walls, andsaid tube will have the effect of trussing or strengthening the cup atthe corner or angle in which it is placed.

As shown, the innermost two sides 19 and 20 of the tube 16 may beshorter than the two sides 17 and 18, so that, although they may bepressed down to or even past a straightline AA as shown in Fig. 5, as anagreeable surface or seating for the upper lip in drinking, they do notthereby close the tube.

The lower end of the tube 16 clears the bottom of the cup just enough toallow a full flow of water into and up said tube, thereby permitting allthe water to be drawn from the cup by suction.

To allow an easy grasp of the tube 16 by the lips, especially the upperlip, the upper edges 15 of the walls 10 and 11 are cut away on lines 21of reverse curves at points adjacent said tube.

Having thus described the invention, I claim 1. collapsible drinking cuphaving a collapsible suction tube permanently attached thereto andassociated with the walls thereof so as to be automatically opened andclosed as the drinking cup is opened and closed. y

2. A collapsible drinking cup including walls arranged to have arelative movement, and a collapsible suction tube jassociated with andpermanently attached to said walls so as to be collapsed and opened upby the movements thereof.

3. A collapsible drinking cup including walls arranged to have arelative movement, and a suction tube associated with and permanentlyattached to said walls so that the relative movement of the walls altersthe cross section of the suction tube.

4:. A collapsible drinking cup including relatively movable wallsjoining each other on a folding line, and a collapsible suction tubeextending along the folding line of the walls and permanently connectedto the walls so as to be collapsed and opened up by the relativemovement thereof.

5. A collapsible drinking cup including relatively movable walls joiningeach other on a folding line, and a collapsible suction tube ofpolygonal cross section extending along the folding line and permanentlyconnected with the said walls so as to be collapsed and opened up by therelative movements thereof. I

6. A collapsible drinking cup including walls joining each other on afolding line and movable toward and away from each other, and a foldingdiaphragm spanning the interior angle of the said walls and permanentlyconnected thereto so as to cooperate therewith to provide a suction tubewhich is collapsible with the cup.

7. A collapsible drinking cup including relatively movable walls joiningeach other on a folding line, one of the walls being provided with an'integral extension which is folded to provide a. suction tube extendingalong the said folding line, said suction tube being automaticallycollapsed and opened up by the collapsing and opening up of the cup.

8. A collapsible drinking cup including relatively movable walls joiningeach other on a folding line, one of thesaid walls being formed with anintegral extension which is folded to provide an interior polygonalsuction tube extending along the folding line and integral with the cup,the said suction tube having the cross section thereof varied as thewalls move toward or away i from each other, and being collapsible withthe cup.

Witness my hand this thirtieth (-30) day of September, 1912.

FRANK P. SHEPARD.

Witnesses:

G. R. DAY, Jim. R. CAssELL.

